World Topics

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a longtime friend of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is the front-runner for the crucial post of U.S. ambassador to China. A decision may follow meetings between Branstad and members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team in New York in the ...

Opposition candidate Adama Barrow hailed a “new Gambia” Friday after he pulled off a stunning presidential election victory, putting an end to the 22-year rule of Yahya Jammeh. Jammeh — who has been frequently accused over the years of suppressing his opponents — conceded ...

America’s closest partners are putting a brave face on Donald Trump’s surprise election win while reaching out to try to shape his worldview and to preserve traditional alliances. Allies were rattled by Trump’s nationalist campaign rhetoric and by the haphazard way he has approached ...

President-elect Donald Trump spoke Friday with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, a highly unusual and probably unprecedented move since the U.S. broke diplomatic ties with the self-governing island in 1979 and shifted to diplomatic recognition of China under the “one-China” policy. Under that policy, the ...

The United States and Russia are studying new ways to break a monthslong diplomatic deadlock over how to stop the fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. He said the “ideas” will be tested in follow-up ...

The top U.S. intelligence officer has asked Congress to drop a provision in a bill that would create a special committee to combat Russian efforts to exert covert influence abroad, saying such a panel would duplicate current work and hinder cooperation with foreign allies. ...

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s moves to pack his administration with military brass is getting mixed reviews as lawmakers and others struggle to balance their regard for the individuals he is choosing with a broader worry about an increased militarization of American policy. No fewer ...

French President Francois Hollande’s dramatic decision not to seek a second term next year leaves the left-wing field open in an election that is proving increasingly unpredictable. Hollande announced Thursday he would not seek re-election next April, bowing to historic low approval ratings. “I ...

Retired U.S. Marine Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis — who for years oversaw U.S. war efforts in the Middle East and was tapped Thursday by President-elect Donald Trump as his new defense secretary — did not come by his nickname lightly. Mattis, 66, commanded ...

Retired U.S. Marine Gen. James Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, will need more than the usual Senate confirmation before being able to take office. U.S. law states that a nominee for defense secretary must have been out of the active-duty military ...

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that he will nominate U.S. Marine retired Gen. James Mattis, who oversaw U.S. war efforts in the Middle East, to be his defense secretary. “We are going to appoint ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis as our secretary of defense,” Trump told ...